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Engaging with Your Influencers:

Do your research first. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve received requests that only fit my personal brand or are so off they are funny! After you’ve identified influencers, take the time to read their blog, posts, or what they’re sharing and really think about whether your cause or campaign is a good match.

Cultivate. Don’t ask them for something cold. Start by responding to comments on their posts or sharing their material. Try appreciation before asking.

Don’t have every touch be an ask. Don’t be that neighbor that is constantly asking you for a cup of sugar and not giving anything in return. Take the time for cultivation and make sure you are thinking about reciprocity in your approach—”give me give me give me” is a real turn off.

Make it easy. Influencers are busy. Once you are ready to ask them to do something, make it super easy. Give them a boilerplate they can revise or images they can share. Don’t just ask them to help with providing some support materials. Don’t overwhelm them either. Don’t include everything in your ask email—have a nice mini-site to direct them to.

Say thank you. If someone does a favor for you, it is polite to say thank you.

Engaging with Your Activists:

Showing a little bit of social love to your activists is the key to keeping them engaged in your campaign. While sometimes that may mean a retweet or a share of one of their posts, other times a simple comment or like is enough. That way, even if their post does not rise to the level of being share-worthy, you can still show your appreciation for their willingness to speak out. This is very important, because while it is always a best practice to reinforce social engagement, sharing or retweeting every person who engages with you may dilute the effectiveness of your own brand presence. Having the flexibility to show some love without diluting your impact is one of the greatest assets social media offers to your campaign.

Using YouTube:

Showing social love on YouTube is all about collaboration. By combining forces with other nonprofits or YouTube Creators who care about your cause and creating a video together, you can extend the reach of your message to new audiences and move these people to action.

YouTube recently released a new feature called donation cards, which allows people on YouTube to donate to nonprofits without leaving the video they are watching (on most devices). Nonprofits can use donation cards on their own videos to drive more viewers to donate, but these cards are even more effective if you can use them in partnership with popular YouTube Creators who already have a substantial reach to a wide audience.

YouTube Creators–people like PewDiePie, Franchesca Ramsey, and Tyler Oakley –all have massive audiences they can leverage to help drive viewers to causes that they care about. When trying to connect with a YouTube Creator, it’s helpful to explore their past videos and think about how their interests can connect with your cause. For more helpful advice on connecting with YouTube Creators (and how to use donation cards), check out YouTube’s new guide for nonprofits with insights on effective ways to partner with their channel’s biggest influencers.

Using Facebook:

The question on many people’s mind is: with the constant flurry of social buzz dominating news feeds, how can we ensure our campaign gets more social love? I’ve outlined some key recipes and content strategies to improve engagement so you can”pick up” more likes and shares, and effectively deliver your message to your audience.

Timing. You never want to be late — especially when you post content on Facebook. Everybody’s audience is different, so to know that optimal time click the insights option on Facebook and see the time that most of your audience has engaged with you. Post regularly (at least a couple of posts a day) at different times to get a read for you audience and use different tools — like Attentive.ly! — to help figure out what’s trending at the most opportune moments!

Geo-Target. Geo-target your audience so that you’re spreading a more relevant and timely message. On Facebook you have the option to make a post visible to those in a certain geographic location. Take advantage of this feature and spread targeted messages to different audiences.

Images & Graphics. Posting a block of words can be unflattering. Change things up and post some high-quality pictures and share graphics with a a clear call-to-action. If making graphics is too much a strain on your organization, consider using easy-to-use sites like Canva or Piktochart to make graphics in no time. A picture is worth a thousand words so consider using images to convey your message over a block of words. These three surefire recipes will make a difference in engagement, but ultimately, to get more eyes on important messages and content, consider boosting posts. But be advised, no amount of money can buy you love!

Have you ever been in a relationship with a person that seems to always take but never give? When you run into them at a party, at the office or on the street, they instantly start telling you about things in their life. When you go out to dinner, they let you pick up the check, every time. When you say anything about your life, the conversation somehow ends up about them.

If you have someone like this in your life, you have probably gotten pretty good at avoiding them. When you walk by them and hear them talking, you certainly don’t jump in. In fact, you probably quicken your pace to avoid getting sucked in.

What if I told you that on Facebook, your organization may be that person? Check out these signs that your organization is a love sponge:

You only post content that tells the story you want people to hear.

You seldom ask yourself if your community values the content you post.

You don’t monitor what content is doing well and what topics your Facebook community cares about and engages with.

You seldom respond to comments on your posts, and when you do, you speak as “the organization” not as yourself.

You think more about your Facebook Fan count than you do the number of people you’re engaging with in meaningful ways on the platform.

If any of these things sound like you, it’s time to step back and rethink what you’re doing on Facebook and whether you really care about the community members that are engaging with you.

Using Twitter:

Every day is a great day to show gratitude to your supporters. Whether it’s Valentine’s Day or just an ordinary Tuesday, here are tips to show your audience that you care:

Start making a list of the individuals, organizations, and companies you appreciate the most … just off the top of your head … and find their Twitter handles.

Look at TweetReach.com and search your Twitter handle or hashtags you’re most engaged in to see who the top contributors are … for a more scientific look.

Use Attentive.ly (if you’re lucky enough to have an account) to find high Klout influencers from your list who are doing great work in the world … for a way to connect with movers and shakers who care about you and vice versa.

Check Twiangulate.com’s Reach tab to see which of your top followers on Twitter are people you care about.

Try incorporating visuals or images that include text overlay that reinforce your appreciation and your brand– try even a simple “Thank You.” No designer handy? Try Canva.com — a tool we at Fission Strategy enjoy using when we need to create quick social media share images. I suggest choosing an image of a heart that ties into your work. For example if you’re a conservation organization, find a photo of a heart found in nature, like in tree bark, as we did for Boreal Manitoba.

Jeanette Russell, Senior Product MarketingAttentive.ly at Blackbaud

Show interest in your donors by following them on Twitter before you ask them for another gift. It’s an incredibly easy way to let them know you’re interested in who they are (especially if they share your message with their social networks). Simply retweeting or favoriting a donor is an easy win because it’s easy to do, it’s real engagement, and it reminds them why they gave to you and why they should give again.

Jeanette is the marketing director for Attentive.ly, a social engagement platform. Her deep understanding of nonprofit tech, marketing, business development, and startups has helped her create extensive partner networks and coalitions, along with spearheading innovative campaigns to increase revenue/funding for purpose driven ventures. She serves as an advisory board member of JustGive, co-founded the Montana chapter of the New Leaders Council, co-founded the National Forest Protection Alliance, and served on the board of the WildWest Institute.